Wireless communication devices have recently evolved from a technology used by an elite segment of the population to a technology that is used by the masses. Worldwide, the number of wireless communication device users has reached a staggering number and is growing all of the time. In the near future, it is envisioned that almost everyone will own or use some sort of wireless communication device that is capable of performing a variety of functions. In addition to traditional wireless communication devices, many different types of portable electronic devices are in use today. In particular, notebook computers, palm-top computers, and personal digital assistants (PDA) are commonplace.
Today wireless services are typically sold at retail locations to consumers, through websites, or through a customer contact center or call center. The wireless phone subscriber signs a contract, either verbally or on paper, or electronically agrees to the purchase of new or additional services. The wireless service provider also typically sells or leases a respective wireless communication device to the subscriber as well. In some cases, these services are personalized using proprietary customer information such as the subscriber's town of residence for proximity business listing searches close to home, date of birth for horoscopes, an email address for forwarding text messages, or an airline customer reward program number for personalized itinerary information for example. In other words, the subscriber provides the wireless provider with proprietary customer information that gives the wireless provider a profile of the user that is filled with a plurality of personal information entries. The customer may also be a customer of several third-party companies that contain profiles of the subscriber.
The subscriber of the wireless terminal may not desire to obtain data services from respective third-party companies. This may be for several reasons such as the user may not want to pay for the data service or the user may simply not be interested in the data service. Multi-modal messaging in wireless terminals is a new development. This allows users of wireless terminals to send and receive messages in several data formats at the same time. In addition, multi-modal messaging allows the user to receive more data that is easier to manage on their remote terminal during a session. As such, a need exists for methods of incorporating multi-modal messaging in data service authorization and setup.